Lyons, 39, stabbed Wilbert Decou to death on Oct. 18, 2011, during the fight near their apartment complex in the 600 block of Nel Court. The Jefferson Parish jury rejected Lyons' self-defense claim and convicted him as charged.

Since the trial ended on Oct. 26, Lyons' sisters canvassed the Nel Court area seeking witnesses. They found four who would apparently support the self-defense defense, Lyons' attorney Martin Regan said Friday during a hearing at which he argued for a new trial.

As it turned out, only one of the witnesses showed up. A woman testified she was pregnant and escorting her two toddlers to the nearby Oakwood Mall when the fight broke out behind her. She said she saw a man matching Decou's description pull "something shiny" out of his back pocket, apparently referencing a knife.

Questioned by Assistant District Attorney Jody Fortunato about why she did not speak up during the police investigation, the woman said she did not want to get involved. "I was pregnant at the time, and I ain't want nothing to do with it," she testified.

Regan also sought time to investigate the whereabouts of the white T-shirt Lyons wore during the stabbing, which the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office had in custody but cannot be located.

Regan argued the blood on it could support Lyons' claim that Lyons was wounded during the dispute. During the trial, Regan argued that cuts on his client's arms were defensive and caused during the fight. Prosecutors argued the cuts were old. The jury also heard about the missing shirt.

On Friday, Regan asked for more time to develop his new-trial request. Sullivan rejected it, saying 77 days had passed since Lyons was convicted, and that was "more than sufficient time to prepare a motion for new trial."

By law, convicts are entitled to a 24-hour delay to be sentenced after a judge rejects new-trial requests. Regan refused to waive the delay Friday, meaning Lyons and the attorneys had to appear before Sullivan again on Monday morning.

After the sentencing, a handful of Lyons' family members waited outside the courtroom for him to be escorted back to the parish jail, where he would remain until transferred to the state corrections department.

"You got family that loves you, always remember that," a woman told him before asking a court bailiff and corrections officer to stall so the family could speak with him.

"Can he see his grandbaby?" she asked, referring to a sleeping toddler whose head lay on a crying woman's shoulder.

The officers declined the request.

Members of Decou's family opted not to attend the hearing, Fortunato said.

Separately, the district attorney's office dismissed an obscenity charge Lyons received in June, while awaiting his trial in the parish jail. Corrections officers alleged Lyons refused to stop masturbating while looking at a female officer.